Comedy
Central has launched so many hit shows in the last few years one could
understand they might have a 'we can do no wrong' confidence. That may
explain the shortcomings behind their latest entry, The Root of All
Evil.

Stand
up comic, author and Daily Show regular Lewis Black is the star
of a new half-hour series that comes across like Bullshit! with
Penn & Teller meets Judge Joe Brown. Yeah, I know...

As
standup lawyers, the comics make their case as to which of the two is
more evil. At the end of the show Lewis Black renders his decision and
wraps everything up.

Unfortunately,
this unsatisfying program is overwritten and heavy handed, lacking the
satirical bite and mounds of useful, obscure information that makes Bullshit!
so compelling. The
writers aren't finding the humor from the truth so much as ridiculing
events and people, at least on the first couple of episodes. Truth, as
Comedy Central has learned, is often more entertaining that joke setups;
as a result, this program lacks the relevancy and immediacy of The
Daily Show.

The
producers are alumni of Real Time with Bill Maher and The
Simpsons but The Root of All Evil comes off like a low rent
knock off. The premise is too forced and limiting, the production is much
sillier than the Daily / Colbert shows, that's for sure. If Lewis
Black wants to be Judge Judy he should get an afternoon program, that
I would watch.

In
fact, I'm surprised a comedian as hot as Lewis Black would sign on to
such a seriously flawed concept. I'm a big fan, he's easily up to the
task of helming his own hit series, I'm just not sure this one is it.

That
said, there are laughs to be had (like some funny and revealing interviews
outside an inner city school on show 1) so perhaps the production just
needs time to grow into whatever it's going to become.